I had to have TowBoat US provide a jump start today.
After being at anchor about 1 1/2 hours with the fridge, stereo and phone charging on DC power, the port engine would not start. The voltage shows around 12.1 VDC.
No problem. I've got redundancy with my generator and/or emergency start switch.
Triple witching hour. My generator shut off after running for one minute with a cooling system error. I suspect a bad impeller as the strainer was clear.
With the starboard engine running, I activated the emergency start switch. I could hear the solenoid click and saw the voltage jump from 12.1v to around 12.5v. It was doing something...but not enough to start the engine.
After getting the jump start from Towboat, the port engine showed over 13v and I ran it for about 20 mins to the gas dock to fill up. It started without hesitation after refueling.
It might be time for new batteries. The boat was new to me last year. The flooded Deka Marine Masters appear to be 2015 vintage. The cells were quite dry after spending the winter in the boat with the charger on.
My question is: what could be going on with the emergency start switch? It seemed to be activated but did not provide enough power to start port engine. What should be the expectation with a running starboard engine.
I'll add jumper cables to boat tool collection.
After being at anchor about 1 1/2 hours with the fridge, stereo and phone charging on DC power, the port engine would not start. The voltage shows around 12.1 VDC.
No problem. I've got redundancy with my generator and/or emergency start switch.
Triple witching hour. My generator shut off after running for one minute with a cooling system error. I suspect a bad impeller as the strainer was clear.
With the starboard engine running, I activated the emergency start switch. I could hear the solenoid click and saw the voltage jump from 12.1v to around 12.5v. It was doing something...but not enough to start the engine.
After getting the jump start from Towboat, the port engine showed over 13v and I ran it for about 20 mins to the gas dock to fill up. It started without hesitation after refueling.
It might be time for new batteries. The boat was new to me last year. The flooded Deka Marine Masters appear to be 2015 vintage. The cells were quite dry after spending the winter in the boat with the charger on.
My question is: what could be going on with the emergency start switch? It seemed to be activated but did not provide enough power to start port engine. What should be the expectation with a running starboard engine.
I'll add jumper cables to boat tool collection.